Recumbent - Home-built

When you see the sketch I have made you'll all s******.
Anyway, I want a recumbant so I can go as fast as possible when traveling, the area is fairly flat here (+-12m for 50 miles), so suspension is not much of an issue. After having a heart attack at the prices of recumbants I sat with a clinical eye looking at an old upright I have in the garage, I just wanted to know what problems this design will encounter, and any flaws you can see.



Told you you'd s****** :)

Anyone?

You really need to go to bentrider online however. This site doesn't see much recumbent activity. The WISIL site is also a must for any homebuilding projects.

Ah, a prone fully faired recumbent? A bit of info on them from Goggle

http://www.bike-on.com/newhandcycles/FreedomConceptsJPR200.htm

http://www.quivite.demon.nl/html-bestanden/geschiedenis-gb.html

http://www.bicycleman.com/History.html

http://www.speedbikebgl.de/pix/ruk10s.jpg

http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread.php?p=419301#post419301

http://www.geocities.com/rcgilmore3/prone.htm


Unless your building a rear stear bike, and your arms are above your head, then Im going to s******...

So what are you waiting for? get building! And post some pics of it!

Thanks guys, I'm just sorting out some stuff in the garage, there doesn't appear to be anywhere that deal/builds these around here, so I'm relying on you guys for guidance :)
Will post piccys when I start.

Good luck!
Mike

And no giving me guidance such as "Your frame should be bannana shaped" so that I go round in circles :D

Anyone know of some decent wheels for around £30-£40 ($60-$80), as these look a little worse for wear after sitting in the garage (18" chromed steel, a bit rusty)

Right, one dremel with a wire brush attachment and an afternoon waxing have sorted the wheels out, im thinging of stretching the design furthur though, and having my head 3-5" behind the front wheel, lying flat about 3" up from the shell, the wheels will be encased seperately to improve aero and stop me grinding my face :). Problem is - forward visability; is a 1.25" thick wheel going to impair it that much, or should I revert back to the head over front wheel approach? (I would host pic, but the comp. with it on has just gone pop so it needs rmaing)

That reverse front fork could be unstable at higher speeds. Anyone who has scooted around the supermarket on a shopping cart would be familiar with "high speed wobbles". There is a tadpole trike called the Sidewinder that shares this reverse-fork configuration in its rear steering wheel.

"So what are you waiting for? get building! And post some pics of it!"

having read a bunch about recumbent bike design, i would get planning instead of getting building, if this was my design.

if you mean it as a rear-steer design (rider on his back, feet forward) then your design will be no good. balancing and steering won't work out.

if it's meant to be a head-first recumbent... for one thing, be sure you don't have your knees banging the ground! for two... i've read that the ((rider head-first, belly-down)) design is something that's been tried, though not very many times. thus far, nobody's made a head-first recumbent bike that's very good. you should only try it if you're willing to accept that there's almost no chance of it working well on the first try, and a fair chance that your head-first bike will never be as good as a feet-first recumbent.

the fastest head-first bike happens to be one where the rider faces backwards and is able to see forward only with a mirror. i don't think anybody would even consider using it outside the context of a 1-bike-at-a-time drag race (http://www.recumbents.com/whpsc2003.htm)

here's a site that will let you know what kind of rear-wheel-steer bikes are known to be miserable failures and which kinds work. (http://wannee.nl/hpv/abt/e-index.htm)

Front wheel steer - if im sat behind the front wheel I'm gonna have the front fork normally orientated - so I don't have to extend the frame too much.
Not really bothered if its worse, its different and its cheap :)
Like I said, I'll put up another MsPaint masterpiece when I fix the other Comp. Thanks for your help guys, you're really useful :D
Like a kind of intellectual oxy-acetalene.

Not bad, not bad alt all. I'm in the process of building one too. I must have a "thousand" drawing doodles.
I have a bad back (Spinal Stenosis) complete with lag screws and bars.

Got an idea and I just get the missing peices wherever I can find them, garage sales, hardware stores, Home Depot, and a little known helper. Alumiloy... It's expensive, but worth ever penny.

Good luck

If you need my address reply thru bike forum.

Jim

Wish I had any "pennies" whatsoever, anyhow, will be free to start work in a few months (exams, then freedom before uni), will get some photo's of the piece of junk I start with, and the bigger pile of junk I end up with.